Dance Your Way to Decrease Falls

A loss of balance and diminished gait are major fall risk factors in older persons; some previous studies suggest that physical activity based on dance may improve balance and gait.   Jean Krampe, from the University of Missouri’s Sinclair School of Nursing (Missouri, USA), and colleagues studied 11 seniors who participated in regular dance therapy sessions utilizing The Lebed Method, which includes a combination of low-impact dance steps choreographed to music. The researchers found that: “Dance therapy results in positive functional trends, suggesting that further study using dance-based therapy will be useful to decrease fall risks in older persons.”